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| Media inquiries are welcome. E-mail the author: ricschwartz@yahoo.com Visit the author's Web site: www.midatlantichurricanes.com |
Media Information |
| Which is the worst hurricane to strike the Middle Atlantic states during the past 400 years? There is no one storm that brought the most destructive winds and rain in a single package. Instead, various hurricanes have caused notable effects. The last few decades have included historic flood events like hurricanes Agnes in 1972 and Floyd in 1999. Hurricane Isabel wrought record levels in some interior tidal sections of the Chesapeake Bay region during 2003. But to locate the most destructive wind producers and the most devastating coastal hurricanes, one must look to the distant past. The following have no match during recent decades: 1667 On September 6, a severe hurricane tracked through the Chesapeake Bay region. 1667 became known as the "Year of the Hurricane" to those who endured its extreme violence. An official report noted, "A mighty wind on (Sept. 6) destroyed four-fifths of (our) tobacco and corn and blew down in two hours fifteen thousand houses in Virginia and Maryland." "The nearest computation is at least 10,000 houses blown down ..." according to another account. The valuable tobacco crop was largely destroyed. This hurricane remained a benchmark for generations. Norfolk) rose 15 feet perpendicular," according to the Virginia Gazette. Many ships were lost in the vicinity. Waterfronts were devastated in the lower Chesapeake Bay region. The highest tide of the 20th century was just under 10 feet above normal, making a 15-foot rise seem extreme. But forecasters say a Category 3 or stronger hurricane making landfall at or near the mouth of the bay could cause such an event. It would displace about 500,000 of the 1.5 million residents who live in the Hampton Roads area, according to area emergency management officials. Sept. 7-8, it caused tremendous property losses on water and land. Winds were likely of hurricane force on the lower two-thirds of the bay. Immense crop damage occurred during a period when agriculture ruled the local economy. 1821 On September 3, the Norfolk and Long Island Hurricane tracked over the North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey shore. It produced hurricane-force winds along the coast and a destructive storm wave that inundated many barrier islands of the Delmarva Peninsula. The eye of the Norfolk and Long Island Hurricane tracked along what is today the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. Hurricane and storm-force gusts caused widespread crop and property losses throughout much of the state. The eye passed near New York City, with the storm causing widespread, mostly minor, structural damage but significant waterfront losses. the Chesapeake Bay and into Pennsylvania. It brought Philadelphia's most destructive windstorm. Hurricane-force winds severely damaged or destroyed about 700 buildings. Considerable structural damage throughout southeastern Pennsylvania. Gusts in some places peaked at around 100 mph. The hurricane caused widespread wind damage throughout southeastern Virginia, eastern Maryland, Delaware and western New Jersey. The Chesapeake Bay steamship Express capsized, with the loss of 16 passengers and crew members, a victim of high winds and waves. A storm wave inundated the Delaware Bay region along 30 miles of shoreline. In some places, the water advanced inland for more than a mile. Broadsides of hurricane force claimed 100 roofs in Wilmington, Del. 1889 From October 8-11, a hurricane stalled and dissipated offshore. Tremendous damage occurred along the entire Mid-Atlantic coast, as steady, strong winds built increasing tides. It remains one of the region's most destructive coastal storms, in the same league as the Ash Wednesday Storm of March 1962.. This event offers a lesson on the power of persistence from stalled or slow-moving hurricanes (and nor'easters). 1896 A hurricane made landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast before devastating the eastern United States on September 29. It ranks among interior sections of the Eastern Seaboard's most destructive hurricane- related windstorms. Hurricane-force gusts swept a 50-mile east-west corridor, from northeastern Florida to New York. Thousands of homes were seriously damaged and a vast number of trees uprooted. A covered bridge at Columbia, Pa., more than a mile long, succumbed to two hours of tremendous gusts. A dam breach and avalanche of water through Staunton, Va., wrecked sections of the downtown. 1933 The Chesapeake and Potomac Hurricane tracked through the Mid-Atlantic on August 23. It brought tidal sections erosive flooding and caused extensive inundations from heavy rainfall. Storm and gale-force winds battered much of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Surging tides cut an inlet at Ocean City, Md. 1944 The Great Atlantic Hurricane, a Category 3-borderline Category 4 storm, tracked about 40 to 50 miles off the Mid-Atlantic shore on September 14. Gusts of 80 to 100 mph blasted coastal areas. The eye tracked very near Cape Hatteras, bringing a record low barometric pressure of 27.97 inches to the weather station. A. A series of huge storm waves, estimated to be 30 to 50 feet high, caused catastrophic oceanfront damage along nearly the entire length of the New Jersey coast. At Cape Henry, Va., a peak sustained wind of 134 mph was recorded, with gusts estimated at 150 mph. 1954 Hurricane Hazel on October 15 made landfall at the North Carolina-South Carolina border before racing north to Canada. Winds gusted from 75 to more than 100 mph throughout eastern sections of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as in part of Delaware and New Jersey. The extreme winds brought a large-scale pruning of trees and widespread minor to moderate structural damage to interior sections. Rainfall of 4 to 6 inches caused extensive flash flooding west of Hazel's track. A storm similar to these hurricanes would cause billions of dollars damage. Before the current active hurricane cycle has finished, expect one or more events of the magnitude on this list to batter the Mid- Atlantic region.. |
| Big Hurricanes Have Plagued the Mid-Atlantic Region in the Past |